Giovanni da Verrazano, an
Italian-born navigator sailing for France, discovered New York Bay in
1524. Henry Hudson, an Englishman
employed by the Dutch, reached the bay and sailed up the river now bearing
his name in 1609, the same year that northern New York was explored and
claimed for France by Samuel de Champlain.

In 1624 the first permanent Dutch settlement was established at Fort
Orange (now Albany). One year later
Peter Minuit purchased
Manhattan Island from the
Indians for trinkets worth about 60 Dutch guilders and founded the Dutch
colony of New Amsterdam (now New York
City), which was surrendered to the English in 1664.

New York's extremely rapid commercial growth may be partly attributed
to Gov. De Witt Clinton, who
pushed through the construction of the Erie Canal (Buffalo to
Albany), which was opened in 1825. Today, the 641-mile Gov. Thomas E.
Dewey Thruway connects New York City with Buffalo and with Connecticut,
Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania express highways. Two toll-free
superhighways, the Adirondack Northway (linking Albany with the Canadian
border) and the North-South Expressway (crossing central New York from the
Pennsylvania border to the Thousand Islands), have
been opened.

The great metropolis of New York City is the nerve
center of the nation. It is a leader in manufacturing, foreign trade,
commerce and banking, book and magazine publishing, and theatrical
production. A leading seaport, its John F. Kennedy International Airport
is one of the busiest airports in the world. New York is also home to the
New York Stock Exchange, the largest
in the world. The printing and publishing industry is the city's largest
manufacturing employer, with the apparel industry second.

Nearly all the rest of the state's manufacturing is done on Long Island, along the
Hudson River north to
Albany, and through the Mohawk Valley, Central New York, and Southern Tier
regions to Buffalo. The St. Lawrence seaway and power projects have
opened the North Country to industrial expansion and have given the state
a second seacoast.

The state ranks sixth in the nation in manufacturing, with 446,200
employees in 2009. The principal industries are printing and publishing,
industrial machinery and equipment, electronic equipment, and instruments.
The convention and tourist business is also an important source of
income.

New York farms produce cattle and calves, corn and poultry, and
vegetables and fruits. The state is a leading wine producer.

New York was hit particularly hard by 2012's Superstorm Sandy in late October. The storm was responsible for 60 deaths in the state—43 in New York City, more than 305,000 houses or apartments in the state were damaged or destroyed, a fire in the Breezy Point section of Queens completely devastated more than 100 homes, and New York City's subway system was crippled by flooded stations. Sandy caused nearly $33 billion in damages in New York.